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Backroads Announces June/July Schedule in America

Family Adventure in Bryce National ParkBackroads announced yesterday that they will begin running trips in the US the third week of June. Below is what is slated to run. For these departures, they are intentionally running small trips with guests who have been carefully vetted for their interest in getting back to travel. For more information about Backroads’ updated travel policies and safety measures being enacted because of Covid-19, please look here:

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons Multi-Adventure Tour
June 21-26
July 26-31

North Carolina’s Blue Ridge & Tennessee’s Smokies Walking & Hiking Tour
June 22-26

Bryce & Zion Bike Tour
June 28-July 3
July 12-17

Utah & Arizona’s National Parks Family Multi-Adventure Tour
June 30-July 5
July 14-19, 21-26, 28-8/2

If interested in any Backroads trips for 2020 or 2021, please contact ActiveTravels and we’ll help arrange with flights and pre and post hotel stays.

Ciclismo Classico Offers Boston-Based Day Rides This Summer

Biking the Finger LakesAs owner of this Arlington-based biking outfitter, Lauren Hefferon has been featured in a number of my stories, including this article for The Boston Globe on how to get fit before a bike trip. Ciclismo Classico’s specialty is biking in Italy, including fantastic trips to Sardinia, Sicily, and Tuscany. But due to the nature of current events, Lauren is focusing on North American options this summer, with scheduled group trips to the Finger Lakes, North Carolina, and Colonial Williamsburg, among others.

New this summer is her 29-mile day trip from Arlington called the Battle Road Bike Tour that she’ll be offering on select dates throughout June, July, and August. You’ll pedal along the path of battle taken on April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Bedford and Concord. In addition to this Battle Road Ride, Lauren will also be developing several local 3-4 hour bicycle tours for small groups (10-15) with expert local bicycle guides that will immerse people of all ages and abilities in the rich cultural offerings of our own backyard. Each will follow a robust historic and culinary theme and a behind the scenes view of the cultural significance of places like:

The Ports and Harbors of the North Shore
The Mill Towns and Hamlets of Middlesex County
The Grand Tour of Boston By Bike

Additionally, she will be offering cycling instruction and ensure that every cyclist is COVID safe as well as improving their cycling skills to be safe and confident cyclists.

If interested in any of Ciclismo Classico’s trips, please contact ActiveTravels and we’ll help arrange.

Social Distancing is the Name of the Game for Austin Adventures

horseback riding in MontanaThis week, we’re reaching out to some of our favorite outfitters to see what they’re promoting this summer and fall. Having taken the family on an Austin Adventures trip to the Canadian Rockies, we know firsthand that Dan Austin is the King of Social Distancing. He’s been creating adventures in the outdoors away from the masses for decades. Dan tells us that 60 percent of his bookings are still moving forward this summer. Popular in both 2020 and 2021 are what he calls “single stays,” trips out West with just one base camp hotel. Examples include the private suites and cabins at the Rustic Inn in Jackson Hole and Chilko Lake Lodge in British Columbia.

Due to the popularity of private family trips, Austin Adventures has just partnered with the Lodges at Eagles Nest, an executive mountain community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Together, they’ve launched Eagle’s Nest Home Stays, a first-class base camp that includes guided group tours and outdoor recreational programming. Perched at 5,000 feet with 360-degree views, the Eagles Nest community is five miles from Banner Elk, in the heart of the adventure capital of North Carolina. Activities within the secluded community include hiking, cycling, horseback riding, disc golf, a ropes course, ATV and motorcycle trails, private fishing, a wine and cigar bar, and more. Off-site, travelers can raft Tennessee’s famous Watuga River, or explore nearby Banner Elk.

Guests interested in booking a stay at the Lodges at Eagles Nest through Austin Adventures have a variety of options, ranging from renting an executive mountain retreat with no additional services to experiencing a customized, all-inclusive stay with activity and service add-ons. “We can get you a full-time adventure guide, a personal chef, a private driver, you name it,” Austin said.

Lastly, Austin Adventures has also partnered with Collective Retreats to offer all-inclusive Glamping Based Adventures. For late summer and fall of 2020 Austin is working with properties in Colorado, Texas, and the Governors Island property just outside of New York City. In 2021, Collective Retreats will be adding Montana (just outside Yellowstone) and Napa Valley, CA.

ActiveTravels is here to help you travel during these difficult times. Whether it’s regional, domestic, or international travel you crave, we’ll get you there the safest possible way.

 

Bike Regionally with DuVine Cycling this Summer

Thankfully, coronavirus cases and deaths have plateaued and are hopefully now on the downslope in Massachusetts. Obviously, our health and safety are still the No. 1 priority, but slowly, we’re starting to see an interest in possible travels this summer and fall. Lisa and I, and are our son, Jake, have been holed up in our house like the rest of you for a good two months now. So we understand your need to dream about a new locale that’s anywhere but the backyard. But having gotten a number of you home safely from abroad in late February in early March, we want to be damn sure that the places we send you in 2020 have a good degree of social distancing, are regional, and, if not regional, can be found after one relatively quick flight. This is not a good time to be connecting in an airport. We also have to be concerned with individual state regulations. For example, Maine wants to quarantine all out-of-state visitors for 14 days upon arrival. This is currently on the books through August, which would restrict all hotel stays.

This week, we decided to reach out to some of our favorite outfitters and see what’s happening this summer and fall. First up, DuVine Cycling. If you had the chance to join Andy Levine, owner of the Cambridge-based DuVine Cycling, on the ride he created for ActiveTravels members in the fall of 2017 from Wellesley to Concord, you know they’re a top-notch biking outfitter. Lisa and I had the good fortune to bike with DuVine in Puglia the fall of 2019 on one of our most memorable trips. There’s been a demand this summer for private regional bike trips this summer and fall. Here’s what they’ve created. Pricing is based on a minimum of 6 guests, so 3 couples, or 1-2 families.

Hudson Valley Highlights:
• Enjoy all three nights at Troutbeck, a stylish and historic country retreat in the heart of farm country on the New York-Connecticut border
• Bike over covered bridges, through sleepy towns, and into fertile farmland in a pastoral paradise that’s surprisingly close to New York City
• At private visits and meals, sample farm-fresh produce with local producers and meet the chefs spearheading the region’s farm-to-table renaissance
• Taste artisanal whiskey and bourbon made from grains grown on the grounds of a boutique distillery
• Ride to lunch at Connecticut’s award-winning Arethusa al Tavolo restaurant

Vermont Bike Tour, 6 Days, Highlights:
• Cross the Green Mountain State on Vermont’s extensive network of unpaved roads, a traffic-free paradise of packed-dirt gravel
• Spend a day cycling to local farms in the Mad River Valley, culminating in a totally locally sourced picnic in a mountain pasture
• Enjoy insider access to local chefs and innovative farmers during private meals and visits
• Cool off after a challenging day of cycling with a dip in the local lake or swimming hole
• Stay at three of Vermont’s most luxurious and historic hotel properties

Vermont Bike Tour, 4 Days Highlights:
• Cycle beside the Ottauquechee River and past historic Taftsville Covered Bridge to a cheese tasting at Thistle Hill Farm
• Visit Vermont’s most well-known microbrewery, Long Trail, for a tour and tasting
• Go leaf-peeping from the seat of a bicycle, feeling the warmth of the fall sun
• Watch a glassblowing demonstration and dine at the riverfront flagship location of glassmaker Simon Pearce

ActiveTravels is here to help you get away during these difficult times. If you’re itching to leave the house, please let us know and we’ll toss around some travel ideas.

Wyoming’s Brush Creek Ranch Offers One Night Free in June

One of the few benefits of this forced downtime in the travel world is the chance to take as many webinars as we please to better educate ourselves about destinations and properties. The webinar we took with Schelby Merrill, Director of Leisure Sales, at the Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming was one of the most memorable. Fly to Denver and drive 3 ½ hours through exquisite countryside they call the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and you reach 30,000 acres of prime real estate in southern Wyoming. The property not only offers a quintessential ranch experience, but being a Relais and Chateaux property, also expect the dining to be sublime.

There are 11 cabins, split between 2 and 3 bedrooms, that are ideal for social distancing, replete with full kitchen and living room. You might choose to dine inside your cabin or outside at one of their two restaurants, but don’t expect to use the oven much. Brush Creek offers an all-inclusive experience, including all meals, wines/sprits, horseback riding for all levels, a Wrangler’s Camp for children aged 4-9 including art and crafts and geology, fly-fishing, yoga and meditation, and more than 70 miles of trails to hike or bike. There’s also cooking classes and wine tastings. A typical stay is 5-7 nights and, during the month of June, they’ll give you a night free and throw in cowboy boots. Yee-haw!

The temperature tomorrow is supposed to hit the low 80s in Boston, so I don’t expect to be at my desk. I’m jumping on my bike and going for a long ride. Have a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend and keep active! I’ll be back on Tuesday with detailed information on what our favorite travel suppliers are doing this summer.

The Winnetu Plans to Reopen on June 12th

Mark and Gwenn Snider are some of our oldest friends in the travel world. We were fortunate to visit their property on Martha’s Vineyard, The Winnetu, on a handful of occasions when the kids were young, even joining them on the classic Edgartown Fourth of July parade. We also designed Mark’s trip with his son down to Brazil’s Pantanal region to spot jaguars. Mark also owns the Nantucket Hotel and will soon debut a third property on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands, called The Lovango Resort & Beach Club. But it’s the Winnetu we love the most during these trying times, especially their spacious accommodations, within easy walking distance of South Beach. All of their suites, cottages and private homes feature kitchens and space for dining in. Restaurants will offer take-out, outside dining and private dining in your rooms. The swimming pools, fitness centers, and children’s program will open in June subject to state approval.

Here’s what I wrote about the property for my forthcoming book on New England:

When Gwenn and Mark Snider took the shell of an old motel and built this stylish Victorian resort of yesteryear, the island of Martha’s Vineyard finally had the premier family resort it so desperately needed. The Winnetu is located four miles south of Edgartown, a short walk to that glorious stretch of sand known as South Beach. Every one of the thirty-six suites, ranging from 1 to 4 bedrooms, features ocean views and a full kitchen, but the Sniders have done everything possible to keep the kids outdoors. Pee-wee tennis clinics start at 8 am. An hour later, children are whisked over to the clubhouse for morning activities like beach scavenger hunts or walks to Katama Airfield to watch the circa 1940 planes take flight. Afternoons are free for families to roam the island on a web of bike trails. You can pedal to the Vineyard’s oldest settlement, Edgartown, and take the one-minute ferry ride over to Chappaquiddick. There you’ll find miles of untrammeled beach at Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge. Or venture another 6 miles past Edgartown to Oak Bluffs to ride the Flying Horses Carousel, the oldest operating carousel in the country, built in 1876.

Puffin Fever, My Latest Story for Yankee Magazine

Blame it on the beak, a multicolored spectacle where orange and yellow stripes jut from the base of black. Or perhaps it’s that adorable plump body that resembles a petite penguin. Whatever the reason, the Atlantic Puffin has received top billing. Just ask Coca Cola who gave the bird a starring role in one of its most successful commercials as it struggles to crack open a bottle of Coke, urged on by a family of polar bears to use that legendary bill. This surge in popularity has had a regional effect, says Captain Andy Patterso, skipper aboard the 40-foot boat, the Barbara Frost. Come summer, Patterson make the almost daily jaunt from Cutler, Maine to Machias Seal Island, the southernmost nesting grounds of puffins on the east coast.

To see my latest story for Yankee Magazine on puffin viewing, please click here.

 

Announcing the Launch of the Revised ActiveTravels Website and Blog

Celebrating the Launch of the New ActiveTravels WebsiteHard to believe it was 2009 when I first started this ActiveTravels blog. It was in the wake of the 2008 recession and I had lost more than half the editors I worked with due to cuts and the end of publications like National Geographic Adventure. A writer needs to write, so I created this blog and three years later, Lisa and I would create our travel agency, using the same name, ActiveTravels. However, the old platform for the blog, ExpressionEngine, had become clunky and obsolete. It was time to change to the far more contemporary WordPress. Thanks to the diligent work and inspiration of our beloved website developer, iBec Creative, I’m excited to launch the new and improved ActiveTravels blog! I’m diving in this week, playing around with new fonts, images, and the sense of style, but already it feels far more user-friendly than my old blog platform.

We didn’t just redo the ActiveTravels blog. We’ve updated our entire ActiveTravels website. We’ve revised the Explore New England page to include the specific types of customized itineraries we offer. We’ve added a Resources page where you can sign up for Day Tours, purchase Travel Insurance, organize your luggage to be shipped rather than lug it on the plane, and order Visas and Passports and more. Other pages we’ve updated are our FAQ page, our Travel Questionnaire and our About Us page. Please have a look!

Time to Step Back and Work on Other Projects

Family jumping together2021 marks the 25th anniversary of my first book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England. Since that time, I’ve written or contributed chapters to 9 other books, including New England Seacoast Adventures, and penned more than 500 stories on the region for the Boston Globe, Yankee, Men’s Journal, and a slew of other magazines. I’ve also designed over 200 itineraries to New England for clients since our travel agency, ActiveTravels, made its debut eight years ago. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of my first book, I’ve been wanting to distill all my knowledge of the region this past quarter century into a new book, tentatively titled New England in a Nutshell. Now thanks to the current state of the travel industry, I have nothing but time. This is not going to be the typical comprehensive guidebook on the entire region. More like my column for Yankee Magazine, listing my top beach towns, fall foliage drives, adventures, lobster shacks, art history outings, etc…In other words, get straight to the point and divulge my favorite gems.

That’s not to say this blog is going to disappear. On the contrary, we’ve been busy working with our wonderful web designers in Portland, Maine, iBec Creative, who these past 3 months have been busy redesigning both the ActiveTravels blog and website. Hopefully, we’ll launch in mid-May to celebrate our 8th anniversary, but that all depends on the spread of the Coronavirus and if the travel industry is up and running again.
In the meantime, I leave you with this, my latest published story, Hot Air Ballooning in Cappadocia from the March issue of Global Traveler Magazine.
Stay tuned, stay active, and stay healthy!

Adventure Canada Releases 2021 Lineup

Cruise ship on the waterIf you want to circumnavigate Newfoundland, like Amy did on one of her most memorable trips in 2018, this expedition cruise is one of many Arctic and Atlantic Canada itineraries Adventure Canada is now rolling out for 2021. The Newfoundland cruise is happening October 1-11, 2021, and if you book before October 31, 2020, you’ll receive a 15% discount. Other 2021 trips include Iceland to Greenland in the Wake of the Vikings July 13-24; High Arctic Explorer August 5-16; Into the Northwest Passage August 16-September 1; Out of the Northwest Passage September 1-17; and Greenland and Wild Labrador September 17-October 1. If you want to learn more about the Adventure Canada experience and to perhaps cruise with Amy in 2021, please contact her at amypb@activetravels.com.

I’m off to Austin and San Antonio this week for a wedding, back next Wednesday, March 11th.